A Little Brother
by Keki-chan
Summary: One-shot. Pulled from my deleted collection of stories titled "A Different Perception of Fantasy". Mana is finally getting a little sibling. What can he do during the wait? Cute fic ! :D Under a new pen name.


A small child sat on the lone chair, looking to be around only 4 years old. He seemed as if he was excited, and he was looking around anxiously, his legs swinging back and forth.

The boy looked at the door beside the chair, wanting desperately to open it and see what was going on, "When will Mommy be done? I wanna see my little brother!"

The small child giggled to himself, remembering what his parents would say whenever he called the baby that would soon be his sibling a boy.

'Mana, we don't know if the baby will be a boy or a girl yet,' His mother would say, exasperated by her first-born son's resistance to addressing the baby as his 'little sibling', 'Just be patient, and for now we'll call the baby 'baby'.'

Mana jumped as he heard his mother scream from inside the room, despite the warnings she gave him occasionally to not worry if she starts yelling, because that was just her 'expressing her joy to have another child'.

"Mommy doesn't sound very happy…" He considered, jumping from his seat to stand in front of the door that everyone had rushed into when his mother first started acting strangely.

The child sighed, hating being forced to be the last one to see his baby brother. He wanted to be the first, and he had bugged his mother about it before. However, all she would say in response is a dismissive 'we'll see'.

Mana continued to fidget in front of the door, all the while staring at it as if it was possible that if he stared at it enough, it would magically open. He would have opened it by himself, but his father made it clear that he was not to open the door.

Hearing his mother's scream and rushed voices following it through the wall, Mana set his ear against the door, "Mommy! Are you okay?"

He smiled when he heard his mother's lively, though slightly strained, response, "I'm just fine, honey! T-The baby is just a little hard to handle!"

Turning from the door, Mana decided to leave his family and the strange white-coated women that had rushed in, choosing instead to wander the house, looking for something to give to his little brother when he would be allowed to see him.

Briefly looking at the clock, the child had to do a double-take, seeing that it had already been three hours since everyone rushed into the room that would soon hold his baby brother inside it as well. Still, his mother had started acting strangely far before then, but at that time he was allowed to be in the same room, holding his mom's hand while innocently asking what was going on.

Continuing his search, he looked through his toy box, searching for an item that he could give to his new little sibling.

The child hummed a familiar melody as he searched; a wide smile was across his face now that he had thought of something he that could do to help the little brother that he would put all of his effort into protecting.

The child immediately stopped humming the melody, his head popping up from the depths of his toy box.

"Aha!" Standing up, the young Mana skipped over to a shelf beside his bed, searching through the various ornaments he'd collected over the years.

Pulling a shimmering item from the furthest depths of the shelf, he opened his plump hands to reveal an intricately designed silver pocket watch; the sun flowing through the window and reflecting off of the smooth surface. There was a shape carved into the front and back of the watch; the elaborate curves and corners revealing a majestic crest. He clicked a button on the side, watching as the lid clicked open while the same melody he was humming began to play, echoing throughout the room with a light music-box sound.

Smiling triumphantly, Mana remembered the first day that he received the small pocket watch. At the time, he was three years of age, and had carelessly wandered from his parents in his excitement of seeing a circus for the first time, even if they wouldn't be entering the tent that day. He'd come across a clown- A brilliant, smiling clown dressed in the most vibrant of colors.

_"Are you lost, little boy?" The clown enquired, bending down to Mana, who could only giggle at the silly man's appearance._

_ The clown made a horrified expression, clasping his hand to his cheeks as a sign of shock, "Do I really look that bad? Oh, I had no idea; I even put on my best outfit today!"_

_ The little Mana replied, giggling, "N-No, mister! You look just perfect!"_

_ The clown smiled down at the child, seeming as if he was relieved by the child's acceptance of his appearance, "Whew~! That's good! For a second there, I thought I may have worn the wrong clothes for a day like today!"_

_ The boy showed a toothy grin, looking around to show his parents the magnificent person he'd found._

_ "Huh?" He asked himself after he'd scanned every face, still unable to find his parents._

_ The clown patted the child's head, a kind expression across the wild man's face, "Come on, grab my hand. I'll help you find your parents!"_

_ "Okay, thank you mister!"_

_ The two searched through the crowds and after a solid twenty minutes, finally found Mana's parents, who were hysterical at their boy's disappearance._

_ "Mana! We looked everywhere for you!" His mother cried, pulling him into a tight embrace. His father did the same, and for a while the three of them were standing in front of the tent, embracing._

_ When Mana pulled back, he was blushing heavily. He turned to the clown, "Mommy, Daddy, this is the man that helped me find you!"_

_ His parents looked at the man gratefully, "Thank you," they both exclaimed at once, "If it were not for you, we don't know if we would've been able to find Mana." At the thought, the mother raised a hand to her eye, delicately wiping an unshed tear from it, "Please, take some money," She began ruffling through her purse, looking for all of her spare cash._

_ "Oh, there's no problem Mr. and Mrs! I don't require any money; helping your son was nothing, really!"_

_ Mana smiled as he watched his parents and the clown he'd recently met dispute about whether the man deserved a reward or not. The child cared not of money and knew not of its importance, so he didn't see why his parents insisted so much on giving some to the clown._

_ He tugged on his mother's sleeve, yawning, "Mommy… I'm tired."_

_ His mother turned to him, "Okay, Mana. We'll go home soon"_

_ The child watched as his parents said their thankful good-bye's to the clown, then began to walk from the man. Mana began to follow, but the clown stopped him, tapping on his shoulder._

_ "Here," the clown put a silver pocket watch into the child's hand, "You can have it; I am no longer in need of it"_

_ Mana smiled at the man, ecstatic that he'd have an object to remember the moment by, "Thank you, sir!"_

Snapping the pocket watch closed, the child skipped away, ready once again to wait for the arrival of his little brother.

When he came to the door, Mana's eyes widened when he saw that it was open; comforting, happy words that he couldn't make out emerging from the inside.

A toothy grin crossed the child's face as he practically jumped inside, stopping when he saw his mother holding a small, squirming figure wrapped in a white blanket within her arms.

"Mommy?"

His mother smiled delicately at him, using a free hand to usher him towards the bed.

He noticed an empty seat by the window, guessing that it was his father's, "Where's daddy?"

"He went to go get some warmer blankets," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper as she seemed to stare in awe at the small figure in her arms.

Mana climbed inelegantly onto the bed, his limbs flaying everywhere as he began to grow annoyed at his own short height.

His mother turned to him, smiling, "Come on, you can do it."

Mana frowned, but continued to work his way up the inconveniently tall bed. Finally reaching the top, he gave a triumphant "Hmpf."

He then noticed that the shape in his mother's arms was, in fact, his younger sibling.

Crawling slowly and carefully over to his mother, Mana sat beside her so he could get a better look at the baby.

He giggled at its appearance, "It's really wrinkly, it looks like a raisin!"

His mother chuckled quietly, "That's because the baby's been in my tummy. My tummy is fuuuulllllllll of water"

Mana carefully poked his mother's belly, "Really? Is mine too?"

His mother laughed, making the baby in her arms shift in position. It was no longer squirming, for it had fallen asleep.

"I have something for it," the child started, pulling the silver pocket watch from the pocket in his shirt.

His mother's eyes grew, "Your pocket watch? But you love that thing!"

"But it's my little sibling, so I love them more," Mana then said more quietly, "Is the baby my little sister, or my little brother?"

His mother was silent at first, then looked to her oldest son with eyes full of joy, "You were right all along. He's your little brother"

The child's smile grew, now spreading from cheek-to-cheek. They both turned to the baby, watching it carefully as it slept.

"Neah…" Mana broke the silence, saying his new little brother's name in complete awe.

"You know," His mother started, "You are the first one to say his name, Mana."

* * *

I'm sure that the age difference between Mana and Neah wasn't that great, but it's fanfiction- I can do whatever I want C:

Reviews are appreciated~! ;D


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